Washington Merry-Go-Round

IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9 October 2025
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
Today’s Events in Historical Perspective
America’s Longest-Running Column, Founded 1932
Passive resistance Chicago-style
By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift         
 
WASHINGTON – Chicago is in the throes of becoming an ominous stage, burgeoning with a converging cast of competitors and competing scripts.
More city-state than city, its occupants are uniquely bound by geography, multi-cultures, cuisine, sports loyalty, and an interconnectedness more reminiscent of small-town America, though the connection does not extend to the city’s unpopular mayor.
The city is unified by a diversity of thirds, there being no ethnic majority, but numerous ethnic communities. Nearly one third of the residents are White, one third Black, and one third Hispanic, plus smaller Asian and mixed-race groups, and an estimated 150,000 undocumented immigrants.
Then, there are the outsiders: ICE agents and federalized Illinois and Texas National Guardsmen.
And there is Chicago’s 11,700-strong police force.
In all, it is quite a cast, and their roles are ill-defined, at least regarding those undocumented immigrants.
Immigration laws are national, not state or local laws, so the state troopers and city police have neither interest nor authority to enforce them. This is where some of the nation’s 21,000 ICE agents play a role, though being masked and accused of racial profiling does not endear them to the populace.
So far, this appears to be a repeat of similar activities in Washington, D.C., Memphis, Los Angeles, or what is about to transpire in Portland. In fact, the experiences are unique to each city, except that Chicago is going to prove to be first among the unique because the city’s citizens are organizing an army of passive resistance.
Not at the behest of the governor, mayor, police chief, or any other official leader, the people of Chicago are banding together to keep ICE and the National Guard at bay. It is a groundswell movement based on communication, and the cellphone is their weapon of choice. Informal networks have formed to alert people when ICE agents are in the area, to set up meal delivery services for people afraid to be on the streets during a crackdown, and to escort children to school when their parents aren’t available.
Yet, they are not advocating open borders. They are simply protecting people who came to America because both Republican and Democratic administrations all but posted “help wanted” signs at the Southern border. They well know the open secret is that these people are here because we need them. And, like most Americans, the citizens of Chicago realize that legal immigration through vastly increased visa issuances is the way to go.
However, reality is another matter, and this scriptless stage could take an ominous turn. Agents, soldiers, and police are human beings, not robots, leaving the door open for any number of possibilities. What might happen if some police officers join the passive resistance and its communication warning system or use their vehicles to block roads? Conversely, what might happen if out-of-state National Guardsmen are infused with hatred for what they perceive as anti-Americanism? Oklahoma’s Republican Governor  Kevin Stitt sounded the alarm: “Oklahomans would lose their mind if [Gov.] Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.”
In the end, there is no script, but there is a show, and no one knows how it will begin, how long it will run, or how it will end.
 
See Eleanor Clift’s book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers).
Twitter:  @douglas_cohn
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END WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND